NEW DELHI: The United States no longer remains one of the top five crude oil suppliers to India as African nation Angola nudged ahead of the US in December.
Russia continues to be the top suppliers of oil to India even though India’s dependence on Russian oil has fallen.
According to energy cargo tracking firm Vortexa, Russian crude made up 31% of India’s imports, the lowest share of the year, while the US accounted for just 1%.
This marks the second consecutive month of declining Russian imports, driven by reduced discounts. Meanwhile, the US dropped out of India’s top five crude suppliers, with Angola moving into the fifth position. Not long ago (in August 2024), US accounted for 8% of India’s crude oil imports.
“In December 2024, the top five supplies included Russia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Angola, with Angola overtaking the United States as the fifth largest crude supplier. Indian refiners turned towards African and Middle Eastern producers for crude as Russian crude exports fell. India’s crude imports grew 2% year over year, summing to 4.57mbd in 2024,” said Xavier Tang, Market analyst at Vortexa. However, India’s overall crude imports in December increased by 4% to 4.46 million barrel per day.
India significantly increased imports from Iraq in December, which rose to 23% from 16% in November, while imports from Saudi Arabia and the UAE were 13% and 10%, respectively. In contrast, Russian crude imports fell from 36% in November to 31% in December. At one point of time, India imported as much as 44% of its supplies from Russia. The surge in Russian crude imports by Indian refiners began after the Russia-Ukraine war, when Russian oil was offered at significant discounts.